Read the section "Believer By Imagine Dragons." This song compares physical pain to a choking rain of ashes.

The group's lead singer, Dan Reynolds, explained that the song "is about overcoming emotional and physical pain." He had suffered a serious form of arthritis that was very painful.

I was choking in the crowd

Living my brain up in the cloud

Falling like ashes to the ground

How does this section develop the reader's understanding of how a simile works?

Explanation:

Being told what the song is about, helps the reader understand the lyrics.

Because the reader is told what the song is about, we know what the lyrics mean. The lyrics reinforce what the song is about, like how a simile reinforces what a passage is about. Think about this: If an author wrote, "The man was as brave as a lion,", instead of, "The man was brave", this is a much better choice of words.

Similarly to the passage, by using similes in the lyrics to better emphasize overcoming emotional and physical pain, the song helps the reader understand better the message of the song.

So, by reading the section, the reader understands that a simile is about two things being compared to one another, like how the song compares physical pain to a choking rain of ashes.

the present continuous is a verb tense which is mainly used to indicates that an action is in progress at the moment of speaking.  

it is formed using: person + verb to be (am/is/are) +verb + - ing form  

example: i am studying at this moment .

in addition, the present continuous is also used in order to express things that will or will not happen in the near future.

example: i am having dinner with some friends tonight.

the speaker sometimes   uses it   to express that an action is repeated and it causes irritation on the part of the speaker

example: my sister is constantly complaining about everything.